Album Review: Feet - 'Make It Up'
A very welcome return from inventive five-piece Londoners' with Make it Up.
It's no surprise to many that being in a band takes a big chunk of time in your life, with many family and friends left in the lurch for the sake of the tour bus. But when the music beckons, it's never a difficult choice to come back into the fold. Certainly not for the folks in FEET anyhow. Now, after five years since their debut release of frenetic What's Inside Is More Than Just Ham, comes their long-awaited follow-up, Make It Up.
It's not been five years of no music, mind. 2021 saw the band take a turn into the post-punk ramblings of Sports Team and shame with number Peace & Quiet. The following year saw the bands' desire for more refinery in their work. Spiky effort Can't Get In saw a real lightbulb moment in 2022. Not too long they settled on their course for album number two. So in their London outpost they got to work.
A brazen, fine-tuned machine of guitar-driven indie rock, Make It Up distils the FEET of old - almost as if they never left. Despite it's oddly ironic title, this album is certainly not a improvisation of half-baked ideas. The over-arching sounds in the twelve-track display all have their place. With Chalet 47 and English Weather having already established them as one of the most exciting guitar bands on the scene, the group - no longer sidelined and idle - wish to take it to the next level.
First taster The Real Thing is a show of the bands' loudest and proudest sound to date. Endearingly wonky in its grooving, it coaxes us in with addictive hooks and a catchy sing-a-long chorus to boot - a trope distilled in any indie rock record to stand the test of time. Better Than Last is a crunchy start-up setting the right amount of tone reminiscent from The Strokes in their heyday.
I'm Wrong is another hearty sprawl of melodious momentum that does not feel the need to stay longer than it needs too. As does Bullseye - a more relaxed approach with contemplative guitar strokes and an ironed lyrical display from frontman Haverson. No Vision meanwhile, is another fast-flexed reprise of infamous ooh oohs and a sedative hook, resting on those guitars; abound in colour. The album - gleaned for its all worth in indie-rock staples - ends with a literal adieu to the audience, with bordering-ballad Goodbye (So Long, Farewell). See you on the next one, boys. Hopefully a quicker intermission than this time around.
Following the record release, the band are set to go on a few in-store signings and performances before embarking on a UK/Europe tour as support for Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Having continued to win over audiences across the UK and European live circuit, the tour will see them at Leeds' Project House London's KOKO and Brussels' La Boutanique before heading up to Manchester for Neighbourhood Festival in October this year.
Words by Alex Curle
